Well, right now I am in Australia, celebrating the holidays with my extended family, and I think it’s safe to say that I have a lot to be thankful for. Since my last update, I’ve completed another four rounds of chemo. One of the things that I’m thankful for is that my treatment continues to be smooth sailing; my counts have steadily stayed high, no signs of growth or swelling and remarkable recovery times after infusions. This means that in total I’ve now completed twenty-five of my forty-one infusions. Because of my trip to Australia I did one treatment two days early (moved from my normal Thursday to a Tuesday) and actually skipped one round of chemo. Interestingly enough my doctors felt as though skipping one treatment out of an originally planned forty-two wasn’t a big deal; especially considering that my treatment has been so successful. I think there’s something to be said about the fact that I don’t really have much to talk about in terms of my treatment. It’s been so uneventful and “regular” that to write everything out again would just be repeating myself. I now have roughly a month off before my next MRI and then hopefully starting my next maintenance round. Due to the uneventfulness, I’ve decided instead to talk about some of the things I’m grateful for.
I’m grateful that my Grandfather’s chemo has been so successful. My Grandfather is fighting T-Cell Lymphoma and after having a few unsuccessful treatments he’s found the chemo that’s doing the trick! He’s quite an inspiration and together we’re the Chemo Company! Love you, Grandad! It’s a blessing to be over in Australia celebrating Christmas with my grandparents, cousins, aunt, and uncle.
I’m grateful to be so fortunate as to go to an amazing school and to live in an incredible place in an amazing city. Moving this year has been quite a change in lifestyle; not only did I change schools but I also changed cities! I went from living in a house in the suburbs to an apartment in the city. Living in DC has been quite a change but it’s a welcome change! I’ve met so many new people and made many new friends. I look forward to continually establishing myself in an amazing new place. I’m so very lucky….. except that I’m not living in Nationals territory. Go Phillies, regardless of the fact we’re kinda terrible now.
I’m grateful for an amazing set of doctors and nurses. I hope that all of my doctors and nurses know how amazing they are and that I owe them big time. I imagine that what they do everyday has many challenges by their amazing attitudes every time I walk in the hospital makes all the difference.
I’m excited to be launching The Bear/Bare Cupboard (punny, right?), my fundraising effort to fill the outpatient chemotherapy pantries at Children’s National Medical Center. I hope to establish an amazing set of donors who are willing to help make a change in a hospital that helps so many kids and families. More information to come later.
I’m grateful for everyone who is following and supporting my journey. Your support means and does more than you can imagine.
Finally, I’m thankful for my health and my family. It’s been a turbulent year, but I’m so thankful to be where I am now, not only physically but also mentally. More than anything, I’m thankful for the immense support of my family. Without them I don’t know how I would be where I am today. They’ve sculpted me into the person I am today and I am forever grateful.
I hope that you all have an amazing holidays and enjoy so much needed (at least much needed for me) time off. Again, thank you.
-Josh
Josh's Journey 
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